Bypass work remains stalled for the birds

There has been no agreement yet between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and CalTrans over the specific procedures to be followed along the bypass route to protect nesting birds.

The CDFW has received a draft of the revised bird protection and survey protocol from CalTrans and is still reviewing it, says CDFW Environmental Scientist JoAnn Dunn. "The CDFW is consulting with CalTrans about the new protocol," says Dunn.

Some of the key issues associated with performing vegetation removal during the nesting season that are still being worked through include the timing of surveys relative to performing the work and the size and duration of the buffer zones needed around any nesting activity.

"The bird survey needs to be conducted very shortly before any vegetation disturbance," says Dunn.

"CalTrans is hoping these protocols can be worked out early next week," says CalTrans spokesman Phil Frisbie. "Then CalTrans will restart the bird surveys." Frisbie says the next step is to install the fencing and then to remove the vegetation. The reason for removing vegetation before the normal project construction season was to prevent construction delays due to birds nesting.

CalTrans received construction authorization from the US Army Corps of Engineers on February 8 to begin tree topping and vegetation clearing to avoid conflicts from nesting birds; to install fencing along environmental sensitive areas, pile driving in test locations and the excavation and placement of the fill material to build a temporary haul road. The USCOE also advised CalTrans it would suspend its construction permit if the California Transportation Commission failed to approve the project mitigation funding at its May 7 meeting.

CalTrans waited until February 21 to conduct its required bird survey along the bypass route. No migratory birds were spotted in that survey other than red-tailed hawks.

Other observers have since spotted a host of different birds throughout this area.

"Among the reasons CalTrans delayed is that, contrary to assertions, they did not have approved bird survey protocols or final mitigation funding for damaged wetlands and lacked the final sign-off from CDFW and US Army Corp of Engineers," says Earth First! spokeswoman Naomi Wagner. "Because of that delay, their whole construction schedule is out of synch with the seasons and is disconnected from environmental realities in the field. This affects not only birds but test wells, monitoring and all data collection."

The Willits bypass lawsuit pitting the Willits Environmental Center, the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Protection Information Center, and the California Farm Bureau against CalTrans and the US Army Corps of Engineers continues on. All documents forming the basis of the suit have been entered into evidence and the parties involved met in their first mediation session on February 25. "Further facilitated discussions" are expected during the next two weeks, according to court documents.

If the mediation efforts do not resolve the issue the plaintiffs must file opening briefs by April 5 for the June 7 trial.